Read the poem and answer the questions given below it.
At ten we said, “One game, and then we sleep.”
Kabir in Jaipur, Meher two lanes down,
Dev on his hostel bunk, and me at home,
my headphones on, my books pushed to the ground.
We lost the first. We lost the second, too.
Dev blamed the lag and nearly went to bed.
Kabir went quiet. Meher only laughed.
“Again. This time we play as one,” she said.
By two we spoke in half-words: “Left.” “Reload.”
“I’m low.” “Hang on, I’m coming.” “Got him. Go!”
No one played star. Each watched another’s back,
and round by round our score began to grow.
At five, the final round: twelve all. And Dev,
who blamed the lag, was last of us alive.
He held, and won. I jumped up in my room
and gave a silent cheer at ten past five.
By six the sky had turned from black to grey,
then pink above the water tanks, then gold.
“GG,” typed Meher. “Friday, same time?” “Done.”
And Ma would soon be up, and she would scold.
Which of the following best describes the theme of the poem?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → friends who stop blaming one another and win by playing as one team
The poem moves from a losing, blaming team to a team that wins together.
- At first they lose twice, and “Dev blamed the lag” (the slow internet). Then Meher says, “This time we play as one”.
- After that “No one played star. Each watched another’s back”, and “our score began to grow”. Even Dev, who had blamed the lag, wins the last round for all four.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: the harm that a whole night of gaming does to a student’s studies and sleep — Incorrect. Wrong focus: The books and the scolding are only small touches. The poem is about how the team plays and wins.
Option 3: the courage of one player who wins a hard game on his own — Incorrect. Wrong reason: Dev wins the last round, but only after the team learns to play together. “No one played star.”
Option 4: a young gamer’s fear of being caught by a parent in the morning — Incorrect. Not mentioned: The speaker knows Ma “would scold”, but shows no fear. The friends even fix the next game for Friday.